Chapter XXV: The Word of God and the Sacraments in

General
1. The Word of God

The Word of God is the most important means of grace, though Catholics ascribe this
honor to the sacraments.

a. The Word and the Spirit. While the term ‘means of grace’ can be used in a broader
sense, it is here used as a designation of the means which the Church is directed to
employ. When we speak of the ‘Word’ here, we do not refer to the personal Word
(second person in the Trinity, John 1:1 ff.), nor to the creative word of power, Ps. 33:6;
but very specially to the Word of God as it is contained in Scripture and is preached to
the Church. 1Pet. 1:25. It is the word of God’s grace, and therefore the most important
means of grace. While the emphasis falls on the Word as it is preached, it may also be
brought to men in other ways: in the home and in the school, by means of conversation
and religious literature. The Word is made effective as a means of grace only through
the operation of the Holy Spirit. The Word alone is not sufficient to work faith and
conversion, but is yet the necessary instrument. While the Holy Spirit can, He does not
ordinarily work without the Word. The preaching of the Word is made fruitful by the
operation of the Spirit.

b. Two parts of the Word as a means of grace. The Word as a means of grace consists of
two parts, namely, the law and the gospel. The law as a means of grace first of all serves
the purpose of bringing men under conviction of sin, Rom. 3:20, making him conscious
of his inability to meet the demands of the law, and becoming his tutor to lead him to
Christ, Gal. 3:24. In the second place it is also the rule of life for believers, reminding
them of their duties and leading them in the way of life and salvation. The gospel is a
clear representation of the way of salvation revealed in Jesus Christ. It exhorts the
sinner to come to Christ in faith and repentance, and promises those who truly repent
and believe all the blessings of salvation in the present and in the future. It is the power
of God unto salvation for every one that believes.

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Rom. 1:16; “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

1 Cor. 1:18. “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
who are saved it is the power of God.”

2. The Sacraments in General

The Word of God is complete as a means of grace, but the sacraments are not complete
without the Word. This must be maintained over against the Roman Catholics, who
teach that the sacraments contain all that is necessary unto salvation. The Word and the
sacraments differ in the following particulars: (a) the Word is absolutely necessary,
while the sacraments are not; (b) the Word serves to beget and to strengthen faith, while
the sacraments can only strengthen it; and (c) the Word is for all the world, but the
sacraments only for believers and their seed. The following points deserve attention:

a. The parts of the sacraments. Three parts must be distinguished in the sacraments,
namely, (1) The outward and visible sign. Each one of the sacraments contains an
external element. This consists of water in baptism, and of bread and wine in the Lord’s
Supper. One who receives merely this may be said to receive the sacrament, but does
not receive the whole, nor the most important part of it.

(2) The inward spiritual grace signified. A sign points to something that is signified, and
this is the internal matter of the sacrament. It may be called:

righteousness of faith, Rom. 4:11, “and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision; that he might
be the father of all them that believe, though they be in uncircumcision, that
righteousness might be reckoned unto them;”

the forgiveness of sins; faith and repentance, Mark 1:4; “John came, who baptized in the
wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins.” Mark 16:16,
“He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that does not believe shall be
condemned.”or

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communion with Christ in His death and resurrection, Rom. 6:3-4; “3 Or are ye ignorant
that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were
buried therefore with him through baptism unto death: that like as Christ was raised
from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of
life.”Col. 2:11-12. “11 in whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made
with hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; 12
having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through
faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

(3) The union between the sign and the thing signified. This really constitutes the
essence of the sacrament. Where the sacrament is received in faith, the grace of God
accompanies it.

The following definition may be given of a sacrament. A sacrament is a holy ordinance

instituted by Christ, in which by sensible signs the grace of God in Christ is represented,
sealed, and applied to believers, and they, in turn, express their faith and obedience to
God.

b. The number of the sacraments. During the Old Testament there were just two
sacraments, namely, circumcision and passover. The former was instituted in the days
of Abraham, and the latter in the time of Moses. Both were bloody sacraments in
harmony with the Old Testament dispensation. The Church of the New Testament also
has two sacraments, namely, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, both of which are
unbloody. After Christ has brought His perfect sacrifice, no more shedding of blood is
needed. The Church of Rome enlarged the number of sacraments in an unwarranted
manner by adding confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony, and extreme unction.

c. Old and New Testament sacraments compared. The Church of Rome holds that there
is an essential difference between the two: the former being merely typical, affecting
only the legal standing of the recipient and not his spiritual condition, and depending
for their effectiveness on the faith of those who received them; and the latter working
spiritual grace in the hearts of the recipients irrespective of their spiritual condition,
merely in virtue of the sacramental action. As a matter of fact, however, there is no
essential difference, Rom. 4:11; 1 Cor. 5:7; 10:1-4; Col. 2:11. There are some dispensational

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differences, however: (1) The Old Testament sacraments had a national aspect in
addition to their spiritual significance. (2) They pointed forward to the coming sacrifice
of Christ, while those of the New Testament point back to the completed sacrifice. (3)
They did not convey to the recipient as rich a measure of spiritual grace as do the
sacraments of the New Testament.

To Memorize. Passages pointing to:

a. The Word as a means of grace:

Rom. 10:17. “So belief cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

1 Cor. 1:18. “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
who are saved it is the power of God.”

b. The twofold function of the law:

Rom. 3:20. “Because by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for
through the law cometh the knowledge of sin.”

Rom 7:7. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not
known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had
said, Thou shalt not covet.”

1 John 5:3. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous.”

c. The function of the gospel:

Rom. 1:16. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

1 Cor. 1:18. Cf. above under a.

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d. The spiritual significance of the sacraments:

Rom. 4:11. “And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the
faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision...”

1 Cor. 5:7. “For our passover also hath been sacrificed, even Christ.”

Col. 2:12. “Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with
him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

John 6:51. “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this
bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life
of the world.”

For Further Study:

a. Is the law also a rule of life for New Testament believers?

Matt. 5:17-19; “17 Think not that I came to destroy the law or the prophets: I came not to
destroy, but to fulfill. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach
men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and
teach them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Rom. 13:10; “Love works no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the fulfillment of the
law.”

Eph. 6:2; “Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with
promise),”

Jas. 2:8-11; “8 Howbeit if ye fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, Thou shalt
love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well: 9 but if ye have respect of persons, ye commit
sin, being convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet stumble in one [point], he is become guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not

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commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou dost not commit adultery, but kills,
thou art become a transgressor of the law.”

1 John 3:4; “Every one that does sin does also lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”

1 John 5:3. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his
commandments are not grievous.”

b. Can you prove that the sacraments are only for believers and their seed?

Gen. 17:10; “This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy
seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Ex. 12:43-45; “43 And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the
passover: there shall no foreigner eat thereof; 44 but every man’s servant that is bought
for money, when thou hast circumcised him, then shall he eat thereof. 45 A sojourner and
a hired servant shall not eat thereof.”

Mark 16:16; Acts 2:39; “For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that
are afar off, [even] as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.”

1 Cor. 11:28-29. “28 But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and
drink of the cup. 29 For he that eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself,
if he discern not the body.”

c. What dispute arose in the early Church about circumcision? Acts 15; Gal. 2:3-9.

Questions for Review:

1. What do we mean by the term ‘means of grace’?

2. What do we mean by ‘the Word of God’ as a means of grace?

3. Why is the Word the most important means of grace?

4. What is the relation between the Word and the Spirit?

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5. What is the function of the law as a means of grace?

6. What is the function of the gospel?

7. How are the sacraments related to the Word?

8. How do Word and sacraments differ as means of grace?

9. What is a sacrament?

10. What are the component parts of a sacrament?

11. What is the sign in each one of the sacraments?

12. What is the thing signified in each?

13. How are the sign and the things signified related?

14. How did the Old Testament sacraments differ from those of the New?

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Baptism and New Life
By David Feddes

Every year millions of people around the world are baptized as the sign of new
life in Jesus Christ. Have you been baptized? If so, does your baptism mean anything to
you? Is there something spiritually fresh and alive about you? Or do you think of your
baptism as just a ritual without any real impact? If you've been baptized, you need to
grasp the importance of it.
If you haven't been baptized, maybe the subject of baptism doesn't interest you
at all. But should you just ignore it as a ceremony that's not for you? You'd be far wiser
to find out more about baptism and the new life that it signifies.

Criminal in a Coffin
Let's begin with a true story, the story of a criminal baptized in a coffin. Here's
what happened, according to an eyewitness who was visiting the prison and saw the
baptism of this particular prisoner.
The man was incarcerated not for stealing cars or selling dope, but for the crime
which our society is perhaps least prepared to pardon. In a drunken stupor this
man had molested his ten-year old daughter."
It was a hideous crime, yet now the inmate wanted to be baptized. Why? Was it just a
convenient jailhouse conversion in hopes of getting paroled sooner? Was the inmate
perhaps afraid that nobody would ever again love him or have anything to do with him?
No, this criminal did not make his profession of faith in abject panic. His
conversion was not prompted by the dread that, unless he reformed his life, no
one--least of all his family--would ever accept him again. The real turn had come
several days earlier when the man's wife and daughter had visited the prison in
order to forgive him. It was only then ... that the molester got on his knees and
begged for the mercy of both God and his family.
The man didn't repent in order to earn forgiveness. He repented only when he realized
that forgiveness was already there for the taking. His past was no longer held against
him. He could have a new life. Once he knew that, he knew he had to bury his old life
and make a fresh start with God and with his family.
A guard escorted the prisoner from behind a fence that was topped with razor
wire.... After a pastoral prayer, the barefoot prisoner stepped into a wooden box
that had been lined with a plastic sheet and filled with water. It looked like a
large coffin, and rightly so...
Pronouncing the trinitarian formula ("I baptize you in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit") the pastor lowered the new
Christian down into the liquid grave to be buried with Christ and then raised him
up to life eternal. Though the water was cold, the man was not eager to get out.
Instead, he stood there weeping for joy. "I want to wear these clothes as long as I
can," he said. In fact, I wish I never had to take a shower again." His baptismal
burial was too good to dry off. "I'm now a free man," he declared. "I'm not
impatient to leave prison because this wire can't shackle my soul. I know that I

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 deserved to come here, to pay for what I did. But I also learned here that
Someone else has paid for all my crimes.
"When I get out of this place," he added, "I want to do two things.... I want
to find a church where I can get down on my knees and thank God, and I want to
get home to my family."
That's the story of the criminal baptized in a coffin.
Now, most people who are baptized are not criminals in prison, and most
baptisms don't happen in a coffin-like box. But in a sense every baptism involves a
criminal in a coffin. Each of us is born a criminal in relation to God’s law. We come into
a sinful world as sinful beings. And baptism puts us into a coffin. The sinful self and the
sinful world are buried and left behind. The baptized person emerges from a watery
grave into a new life and a different world. As the Bible puts it, "All of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death. We were therefore buried with
him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life" (Romans 6:3-4).
Baptism marks you as a member of the community of faith, as part of the body of
Christ, the church. You die to your old identity as a sinner without God and rise to a new
identity as a child of God. You die to your old community in the fallen human race and
rise to a new community, God's family, the church. Baptism is a seal of union with
Christ, a sign that what happened to Jesus also happens to you in some mysterious
sense. Baptism is a sign and seal and celebration that your sinful self has been nailed
to the cross and buried with Jesus, and that through his resurrection you have come
alive to a brand new reality. Baptism is also a challenge to keep thinking of yourself that
way and to keep living like it. Scripture says, "Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to
God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11).

Counting on Christ
Baptism is a seal of solidarity with Jesus Christ, of being joined to him in such a
way that his reality becomes our reality. Baptism is also a sign of separation from every
other religion besides the gospel of Christ and of separation from every other supposed
savior besides Jesus. You must count on Jesus to wash away your sins by his blood,
and count yourself dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Otherwise you are
doomed. Your sins cannot be forgiven unless they are crucified and buried with Christ.
You cannot live a new life or overcome death or avoid hell unless you are united with
Christ in his resurrection. Only Christ can get us beyond the grave and into glory.
The true story of the baptism of a criminal in a coffin shows that even the worst of
us can have forgiveness and new life through Jesus. The flip side is that without Jesus,
there is no forgiveness or eternal life. To make the point, here's another story about a
criminal in a coffin. This isn't a true story--it's from an old TV show--but it makes the
point.
A wicked woman murdered someone and was sentenced to life in prison. She
was eager to escape, and she came up with a plan. She knew another inmate, an old
man, who had the job of burying prisoners who died. Any time there was a death, he
would build a casket, place the body in it, cart it out to a burial ground outside the prison
wall, lower it into a hole, and cover it with dirt. This old man was going blind and needed

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cataract surgery, but he didn't have the money to pay for it. The woman, seeing it as a
chance to escape, promised to give the old man lots of money if he would help her. He
reluctantly agreed.
Her plan was this. The next time she heard the bell toll which signaled the death
of an inmate, she would wait until night and then sneak over to the room where the old
man worked. She would find the casket, crawl in, lie down with the dead body, and pull
the lid shut. The next morning the old man would roll the casket to the burial ground
outside the walls, with the clever woman and the corpse inside the coffin. Then, when
nobody was looking, he would pry it open, and the woman could make her escape.
Eventually the night of opportunity came. The bell tolled. The woman slipped
through the darkness and found the casket. She lifted the lid, slipped into the box, and
pulled the lid shut. A few hours later she felt the coffin moving. Soon she would be
outside the prison walls. She would be free. She smiled. Her plan was working perfectly.
After awhile, though, her smile began to fade. She waited ... and waited ... and
waited ... but nothing happened. What was wrong? Why didn't the old man open the lid?
She tried to push it open, but she couldn't. The lid was nailed tightly shut, buried deep in
the earth. Finally, in the darkness of the coffin, the woman lit a match and stared in
horror at the face of the dead body next to her. It was the old man himself who had died.
That's what happens when you count on the wrong person to save you. You can't
count on a dead person to save you from death. Only Jesus has the power to save you.
There have been various religious figures throughout history who claimed to offer the
way to be saved, but these founders of other religions are dead. You don't want to be
stuck in the same coffin they're in. They can't save you, and the religions they started
can't save you. The only one who can save you from sin and death is Jesus. He is the
only one who rose from the dead, so he is the only one who can raise you from the
dead. Without him you are doomed. With him you will live forever. Baptism points to
Jesus. Baptism seals the fact that Christ, and Christ alone, brings salvation. By faith you
must count on him.

What the Water Means

Why is baptism so important? A few words are spoken, and a person gets wet.
What is so special about that? Does the water of baptism have magical or supernatural
power? No, water is water. It doesn't wash away sin or give eternal life. Water can wash
dirt from your body; it can't wash sin from your inner being. But the water of baptism
represents the blood of Christ, poured out when he was nailed to a cross, and Jesus'
blood does wash away sin and purchase eternal life.
If you've never seen a baptism, you may wonder what actually happens. Not all
baptisms look alike. One may take place in a prison yard, another in a river, another in a
magnificent church building. But whatever the differences, every valid baptism has
certain things in common. Every baptism involves words and water.
What are the words of baptism? The Christian leader who baptizes someone
declares, "I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
Why use these particular words? Because Jesus says so in the Bible. Jesus says in
Matthew 28:19, "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." Every valid baptism marks a

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person with the holy name of the blessed Trinity. To be baptized and bear the name of
God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is a wondrous privilege and
an awesome responsibility.
Baptism involves not only words but water. The water is applied in different
ways, depending on the practice of each pastor or church. The person may be
completely immersed in water or sprinkled with water. Either way, sprinkling or
immersion, fits with the Bible and highlights a beautiful reality.
Some churches and pastors baptize by complete immersion, and that's definitely
one good way to do it. When someone is plunged completely underwater and then
comes out again, it's a vivid picture of plunging into death with Christ and rising again to
new life. In the words of Romans 6:4, "We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the
glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." That's one precious meaning of baptism.
It's not the only meaning, though, and complete immersion is not the only valid
mode. Another mode of baptism practiced by many churches and pastors is sprinkling.
Some wonderful promises in the Bible are connected with sprinkling. Isaiah 52:15
speaks of Christ and says that he "will sprinkle many nations." In Ezekiel 36:25-26, God
promises, "I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean... I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit within you." In 1 Peter 1:2, the apostle Peter speaks of
"obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood." Hebrews 10:22 says, "Let us
draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and have our bodies washed with pure
water." Over and over in the Bible, being sprinkled is a picture of having guilt washed
away and being set apart from the world as God's holy people.
Is sprinkling or immersion more valid? Asking that question is like asking whether
a bath or a shower is more valid. The main point of bath and shower is the same:
getting clean and fresh. So too, the main point of baptism, whether by immersion or
sprinkling, is getting clean through Jesus' blood and receiving fresh, new life through his
Holy Spirit. Sprinkling highlights certain aspects of biblical teaching, immersion
highlights other aspects, but both sprinkling and immersion are valid baptism. Both
include all the benefits of Christ which baptism signifies and seals. All the biblical
promises about sprinkling apply not only to those baptized by sprinkling but also to
those baptized by immersion. By the same token, all the biblical truths about being
buried and raised with Christ apply not only to those baptized by immersion but also to
those baptized by sprinkling. Don't get hung up on the mode of baptism; instead, hold
on to the meaning of baptism.

What Are You Waiting For?

The apostle Paul, one of the key figures in the Bible, knew from his own
experience the amazing meaning of baptism. At one time he went by the name Saul
and was a cruel killer of Christians. Then he encountered the living Lord Jesus and
found how wrong it was to fight against Christ. At that point a Christian named Ananias
helped Saul take the first steps in making a new start. Even though Saul had been a
horrible enemy of Christians, Ananias greeted him as "Brother Saul" and treated him as
a fellow member of God's family. After telling Saul he would become a great witness for

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the Lord Jesus, Ananias said, "And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized
and wash your sins away, calling on his name" (Acts 22:16). Just like that, the
murderous sinner Saul was baptized. His sins were washed away, and he ended up
becoming the mighty missionary Paul.
The water of baptism isn't what actually washes sins away, of course. "The blood
of Jesus," says the Scripture, "purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7), and that promise of
washing in Jesus' blood is displayed and confirmed in the baptismal washing.
Paul's terrible sins were washed away, and your sins can be washed away too.
You don't have to wait to be baptized until you are clean enough to be acceptable to
God. If that were the case, none of us could ever be baptized. Baptism reminds us that
even though we are dirty, God makes us clean. Even though we are dead in sin, God
makes us alive in Christ Jesus. Even though we are dry and empty, he fills us with the
living water of his Holy Spirit. To be baptized is not a declaration of your own
qualifications. It's an admission of your need and an acceptance of Christ's provision.
You may think you're so bad that you can't possibly be forgiven and transformed,
but are you worse than Paul was? Are you worse than millions of other sinners who
have received baptism and new life? If God accepted me, he can surely accept you as
well. Paul speaks for all Christians when he says,
At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds
of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating
one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his
mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy
Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so
that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs, having the hope
of eternal life (Titus 3:3-7).
Baptism is a visual enactment of those words. What an astonishing before-and-after
picture of the transforming power of God's love in Jesus Christ! Before, there's
foolishness, slavery, hatred. After, there's rebirth as sons of God who inherit everything
that is God's, including eternal life. Paul never tired of telling other people about the love
of Christ and the amazing change that comes when we are connected to Christ. Paul
said, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
(2 Corinthians 5:17)
If you've never been baptized, but you know your sinfulness and believe in Jesus'
blood, his resurrection, and his life-giving Spirit, then, to quote Paul's friend Ananias,
"What are you waiting for?" Be baptized and wash your sins away through calling on the
name of Jesus in faith.
If you've been baptized in water at some point in the past but have never entered
into the reality of rebirth, repentance, and faith, now is the time to accept what your
baptism signifies.
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of
refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Don't despise baptism. Be washed in
Jesus blood, and be filled with his Spirit.

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Privilege and Responsibility
Baptism is God's way of marking you as a part of his church and as a member of
his covenant. That involves great privilege. And with great privilege comes great
responsibility. As Jesus put it, "From everyone who has been given much, much will be
demanded" (Luke 12:48). Baptism isn't just about what you can get from God. It's also
about God's claim on you.
It's a privilege to be baptized in the name of the Father, to be part of God's
family, loved and protected by him. But with the privilege comes responsibility. If you are
baptized in the name of the Father, you must obey as his child and treat the rest of the
family as dear brothers and sisters.
It's a privilege to be baptized in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, to be washed
by his blood and share in the benefits of his death and resurrection. But with the
privilege comes responsibility. If you are baptized in the name of the Son, you must
honor your Savior and follow Jesus wherever he leads.
It's a privilege to be baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, to have the living God
make his home within you, giving you rebirth and renewal, uniting you to Christ, making
you more and more like him, and filling you with fresh life and power. But with the
privilege comes responsibility. If you are baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit, you
must keep in step with the Spirit and not grieve him.
So how about it? Have you been baptized with water? Have you been born again
by God's Spirit? Jesus says that "no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born
again" (John 3:3). Being "born again" can be a sudden, dramatic experience, but it
doesn't have to be. God's Spirit is not bound to just one way of working. When a person
comes to Christ, it may be sudden or gradual, dramatic or low key. It may be in
response to one gospel message or to long years of living in a godly family. It may be a
combination of many things. But whatever the process, this must be the result: Trust
God as your Father, believe that your sins are forgiven through Jesus, experience his
Spirit living and working in your life, and accept baptism as the seal of God's promise: "I
will be your God, and you will be my people."

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Should  Babies    
Be  Baptized?  

David Feddes
When  there’s  disagreement  about  
baptism,  avoid  two  pitfalls:  
1.  Undermining unity among Christians.
2.  Weakening witness to non-Christians.
 Areas  of  agreement  
1.  The Bible is God’s Word. God created all
things. Jesus is God and Savior. The Holy
Spirit connects us with Christ.
2.  Baptism is to be done with water in the name
of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
3.  Baptism is about God’s grace, not our
goodness. It is a sign of cleansing by Jesus’
blood and union with Christ’s death and
resurrection.
 Areas  of  agreement  
4.  Baptism calls for ongoing response of love and
obedience.
5.  Any unbaptized person growing up outside a
Christian family and church must profess faith
before being baptized.
6.  Every baby born into a Christian family is a
special blessing and responsibility.
7.  Personal, public commitment is necessary at
some point (whether before baptism or some
time after baptism as an infant).
 Clutter  to  clear  away  
1.  Baptism removes past sins or causes rebirth.
2.  Jesus’ adult baptism disproves infant baptism.
a.  Should everyone wait till age 30?
b.  Was the timing of Jesus’ baptism delayed
because he wasn’t yet committed to God?
3.  Arguments from silence: what Bible doesn’t say
a.  Scripture doesn’t command infant baptism
or give examples of it. Likewise, Scripture
doesn’t forbid infant baptism.
b.  Scripture doesn’t mention women at Lord’s
Supper. Does that prove anything?
 Discipleship  and  belonging  
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to
observe all that I have commanded you.” (Matt
28:19-20)
•  Baptism is a sign and seal of becoming a
disciple and joining the church of Christ, the
blood-bought, Spirit-filled community.
•  In thinking about infant baptism, a central
question is: Do babies belong to the church,
and should parents disciple their little ones?
 Key  considerations  
1.  Status of believers’ children
2.  Household baptisms
3.  Covenant continuity for generations
4.  Circumcising converts and baby sons
5.  Relating old-covenant circumcision and
new-covenant baptism
6.  Personal faith and family solidarity
 1.  Status  of  believers’  children  
“Let the children come to me, and do not hinder
them, for to such belongs the kingdom of
God.” (Luke 18:16)
•  Jesus was indignant at disciples who tried to
keep babies away.
•  God’s kingdom belongs to believers’ babies.
•  Babies don’t have to become like adults to
connect with Jesus; instead, adults need to
receive God’s kingdom like a little child.
•  Jesus hugged and blessed believers’ babies.
 2.  Household  baptisms  
•  “She [Lydia] and the members of her
household were baptized.” (Acts 16:15)
•  “’Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved--you and your household…’ he and all his
family were baptized.” (Acts 16:31,33)
•  Crispus "and his entire household" came to
Christ and were baptized. (Acts 18:8).
•  "I also baptized the household of Stephanas.”
(1 Cor 1:14)
 3.  Covenant  continuity  
•  Covenant: a relationship grounded in promises
and confirmed by a sign. (270x in Scripture)
•  God’s covenant includes a believer’s household
and descendants: "I will establish my covenant
as an everlasting covenant between me and you
and your descendants after you for the
generations to come, to be your God and the
God of your descendants after you." (Gen 17:7)
•  God "announced the gospel in advance to
Abraham." (Galatians 3:8)
4.  Circumcising  converts  and  babies  
•  Abraham came to faith as an adult. His adult
circumcision was “a seal of the righteousness
he had by faith” (Rom 4:11), “a sign of the
covenant” between God and him. (Gen 17:11)
•  Abraham’s baby son Isaac and baby boys in
future generations were to be circumcised at
eight days, marking them as part of God’s
covenant people of faith. (Genesis 17:12)
•  Any foreigner who joined the covenant
community was to be circumcised, along with all
males in his household. (Exodus 12:48)
5.  Relating  old-­‐covenant  circumcision  
and  new-­‐covenant  baptism  
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off
of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done
by the hands of men but with the circumcision
done by Christ, having been buried with him in
baptism and raised with him through your faith in
the power of God, who raised him from the dead
(Col 2:11-12).
Baptism is the sign of a new and better covenant:
•  no more pain or blood, as in circumcision
•  no longer limited to males
•  no longer limited to Jewish ethnicity and law
5.  Relating  old-­‐covenant  circumcision  
and  new-­‐covenant  baptism  
•  Those who think only professing believers
should be baptized say, Would the new, better
covenant sign be a matter of physical descent
and family ties? Surely not! It must be totally
based on spiritual rebirth and personal faith.
•  Those who think babies of believers should be
baptized say, Would the new, better covenant
sign exclude babies who would have received
the sign under the older covenant? Surely not!
 Circumcision  and  baptism  
•  Circumcision pictured "the putting off of the
body of the flesh" (Col 2:11); so does baptism.
•  Circumcision was the sign of becoming part of
God's covenant community; so is baptism.
•  Circumcision called for a heart in tune with God
(Deut 10:16; 30:6); so does baptism.
•  Circumcision was for believers and their
children; so is baptism.
•  Circumcision as an outer sign called for inner
faith; so does baptism.
 6.  Personal  faith  and    
family  solidarity  
"As for me and my household, we will serve
the Lord" (Joshua 24:15).
"Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness
of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your
children" (Acts 2:38-39).
 Branches  on  a  vine,  
not  just  marbles  in  a  box  
"I am the vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5).
Two ways of adding to the vine:
1.  New branches can be grafted (converts).
2.  New twigs can grow on a vine. If a branch is
connected to the vine, so are any twigs
connected to the branch. (covenant children)
Dead branches are cut off, thrown away, and
burned (John 15:2,6). Baptized persons who rebel
and reject Christ will perish unless they repent.
 Why  baptize  babies?  
1.  Status of believers’ children
2.  Household baptisms
3.  Covenant continuity for generations
4.  Circumcising converts and baby sons
5.  Relating old-covenant circumcision and
new-covenant baptism
6.  Personal faith and family solidarity
 Dunking  or  Sprinkling?  
•  He will sprinkle many nations. (Isaiah 52:15)
•  I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be
clean... I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit within you. (Ezekiel 36:25-26)
•  "obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his
blood." (1 Peter 1:2)
•  "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
and have our bodies washed with pure
water." (Hebrews 10:22)
 Dunking  or  Sprinkling?  
We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)
dunking under, rising out
•  Dunking and sprinkling each symbolize much
biblical truth. Each points to the same reality.
•  Fighting over dunking vs. sprinkling is like fighting
over whether bath or shower is better.
 Heidelberg  Catechism  
Q. 72 Does this outward washing with water
itself wash away sins?
A. No, only Jesus Christ's blood and the Holy
Spirit cleanse us from all sins.
Q. 74 Should infants, too, be baptized?
A. Yes. Infants as well as adults are in God's
covenant and are his people. They, no less than
adults, are promised the forgiveness of sin
through Christ's blood and the Holy Spirit who
produces faith. Therefore, by baptism, the mark
of the covenant, infants should be received into
the Christian church and should be
distinguished from the children of unbelievers.
This was done in the Old Testament by
circumcision, which was replaced in the New
Testament by baptism.
 Joyful  Confidence  
•  Covenant children do not have to grow up before
receiving a family and a name. They receive a
family and a name before they can understand
or choose.
•  It’s conceivable that a child could grow up to
change his name and disown his family. But
that’s not the usual pattern, especially when
believing parents practice discipleship at home.
•  “He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of
love to a thousand generations of those who love
him and keep his commands” (Deut 7:9).
Should Babies Be Baptized?
By David Feddes

Should babies be baptized or not? It can be dangerous to ask that question. One danger is
that Christians might be divided against each other. Christians don't all agree about infant
baptism, so if they focus more on this area of disagreement than on their unity in Jesus Christ, it
can cause division. A second, related danger is that if Christians disagree openly with each other,
it can become an excuse for non-Christians to ignore Jesus and the Bible. Why pay attention to
Christianity if Christians can't agree among themselves what to believe?
Recognizing these dangers, I don't want to say anything that sets Christians against each
other or that repels people who don't yet know Jesus as their Savior. I love my fellow Christians
and want to encourage deeper unity in Christ. I also love people who don't follow Christ, and I
want each of you to enter a joyous, life-giving relationship with him. Above all, I love Jesus, and
I want to honor him and draw people to him. So before I say whether babies should be baptized,
a matter on which Christians don't all agree, I first want to emphasize common ground and
highlight things on which all true Christians agree.
All true Christians believe the Bible as the Word of God. All true Christians believe in
God the Father as Creator of the universe and Father of his people. All true Christians believe in
Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior of all who trust in him. All true Christians believe in the
Holy Spirit as the third Person of the Trinity, who connects us with Christ, produces faith, and
gives eternal life. All true Christians believe that each person added to the Lord's church should
be baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
All true Christians see baptism as a sign of sins being washed away and of being united
with Christ's death and resurrection. All true Christians see baptism as a seal of God's grace for
sinners, not of our own goodness. All true Christians see baptism as a mark by which God claims
a person and requires faith, love, and obedience. All true Christians believe that an unbaptized
person who has grown up outside a Christian setting, without faith in Christ, must turn to Jesus
in repentance and personal faith before being baptized.
Not all Christians agree on whether babies born to believing parents should be baptized,
but Christians do agree that it's a huge privilege and responsibility when a child is born into a
Christian family. Even many who don't support infant baptism still have ceremonies of
dedication in which they celebrate God's goodness and promise to lead their little one in God's
ways.
Not all Christians agree on whether a personal, public commitment to Christ is necessary
before a child from a Christian family is baptized, but Christians do agree that such a personal,
public commitment is necessary at some point. Even those who support infant baptism still insist
that those who are baptized as babies must later respond with a public profession of personal
faith in Christ as Lord and Savior, and must live for him.
Christians may have differences, but let's never forget the common ground and the unity
Christians share. Keeping this in mind, let's address the question, "Should babies be baptized?"

Clearing Away Clutter

Let's begin by clearing away some clutter that confuses the issue. What do I mean by
clutter? I mean mistaken ideas and flawed reasons that have piled up on both sides of this matter.

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 Some supporters of infant baptism believe that baptism has almost magical power to save
and that a baby who dies unbaptized cannot go to heaven. They think the water itself washes
away the original sin a baby is born with and causes a baby to be born again into new life. This
view, called baptismal regeneration, is not biblical. If you support infant baptism because you
believe in baptismal regeneration, you need a sounder basis than that.
By the same token, if you oppose infant baptism because you oppose the idea of
baptismal regeneration, you need a better reason for opposing it. After all, millions of Christians
believe in infant baptism without believing in baptismal regeneration at all. They don't believe
God's saving power is bound to the water or to a church official applying the water. They have a
better, more biblical case for baptizing babies, and you must consider that stronger case before
you decide against infant baptism. Baptismal regeneration is one piece of clutter that needs to be
cleared away in order to get at the real meaning of baptism and decide whether it should ever be
applied to babies.
Here's a second piece of clutter: using Jesus' baptism as an adult as proof that baptism
isn't for babies. Jesus was baptized at age 30 (Luke 3:21-23), and some folks claim that this
disproves infant baptism. Sound convincing? Well, if Jesus' baptism at age 30 proves that babies
shouldn't be baptized, it also proves that teenagers shouldn't be baptized, that twenty-somethings
shouldn't be baptized, that anyone under 30 shouldn't be baptized. Even opponents of infant
baptism know it can't mean that. They baptize committed Christian youth many years before they
reach the age at which Jesus was baptized. In their view, baptism must be applied as soon as an
individual makes a personal commitment to the Lord, and not before then. But they would never
say Jesus waited till age 30 because he was not committed to his heavenly Father before that
point. As Bible-believing Christians, they know there was not a moment of Jesus' life when he
was not God's Son, fully committed to his Father.
The baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist in the Jordan River at age 30 was
John's kind of baptism. That was different from the kind of baptism Jesus established. The Bible
makes this clear. Therefore, the timing of Jesus' adult baptism by John has nothing to do with the
timing of Christian baptism in the era after Jesus ascended to heaven and poured out his Holy
Spirit. To say otherwise is confusing clutter.
A third kind of clutter is reasoning from silence, trying to score points on the basis of
what the Bible doesn't say. If you oppose infant baptism, you might point out, "Nowhere does
the Bible command infant baptism, and nowhere does the Bible mention a particular baby being
baptized." That may sound convincing at first, but it's just as true to say, "Nowhere does the
Bible command us not to baptize babies, and nowhere in the Bible is there a record of someone
who grew up in a Christian family being baptized as a teenager rather than as an infant."
Reasoning from silence doesn't prove much either way.
Suppose we were asking not about whether babies should be baptized but about whether
Christian women should take part in the Lord's Supper. Nowhere does the Bible command,
"Women shall eat the bread and drink the wine." But that doesn't matter. Christians know full
well that women belong at the Lord's table. Why? Because of what the Bible says about the
status of women who trust Jesus Christ. They are saved through his body and blood; therefore,
they belong at the Lord's table.
It would be clutter to point out that the Bible doesn't speak of women at the Lord's
Supper. The real issue is what the Bible says about the status of Christian women and how their
status relates to what the Bible says about the Supper. Likewise, it's clutter to point out that the

2
Bible doesn't command that babies be baptized (or not baptized). The real issue is what the Bible
says about the status of babies born to godly parents, and how that status relates to what the
Bible says about baptism.

Children of Believers
Baptism is a sign and seal of entering the community of Christ, the community bought
with Jesus' blood and given life by his Holy Spirit. What's the status of babies born to Christian
families? Do they belong to that covenant community? Do they have a place in God's family?
Are they citizens of God's kingdom?
The Bible tells of people "bringing babies to Jesus" (Luke 18:15). The Lord's inner circle
of disciples rebuked the parents for bringing the little ones. But what did Jesus do?
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to
me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these..." And he
took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and bless them. (Mark 10:14,16).
This story doesn't mention baptism, but it does say a great deal about the status of believer's
babies. Jesus embraces and blesses babies of believing parents and says his kingdom belongs to
such as these. How, then, can the church refuse them the sign of citizenship in God's kingdom
and membership in his family?
God's covenant has always included not only believers but their children as well. Two
thousand years before Christ, God told Abraham, "I will establish my covenant as an everlasting
covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be
your God and the God of your descendants after you" (Genesis 17:7). God's covenant included
not only Abraham but his household and his descendants.
The Bible uses the word covenant more than 270 times, so it's very important. What does
God mean when he speaks of a covenant? A covenant is a relationship grounded in promises and
confirmed by a sign. For example, a marriage covenant is a relationship grounded in wedding
vows and confirmed by rings. God's covenant with Abraham was grounded in God's promise to
be the God of Abraham and his offspring, and this was confirmed by the sign of circumcision.
God told Abraham, "You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the
covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male who is eight days old
must be circumcised" (Genesis 17:11-12). Abraham came to faith as an adult and was
circumcised as an adult, as "a seal of the righteousness he had by faith" (Romans 4:11). His son
Isaac and future children in their line were circumcised as infants and marked as members of the
community of faith, even before they could consciously exercise faith of their own. That was the
pattern God established for his people.
Circumcision was not just a physical ritual for a certain ethnic group. It had spiritual
meaning, and it could include people who were not born Israelites. If a man grew up as a
foreigner to the covenant community and wished to join it and serve the Lord, he was
circumcised as an adult, and all males in his household were also circumcised (Exodus 12:48).
From then on, any male born into that covenant family was circumcised as an infant, marking
him as a member of the covenant.
God's covenant with Abraham was "an everlasting covenant," not a temporary one. That
everlasting covenant remains in effect to this day. God doesn't change. The Lord who made
promises to Abraham is the same Lord Jesus who embraced babies brought by believing parents,
and still today this same Lord promises to be the God of believers and their children.

3
From Circumcision to Baptism
God doesn't just decide one day to dump his covenant and come up with something
entirely different. He remains faithful to the same covenant. But he has brought that covenant
into a new and better era, and he seals it with a new and better sign. In the old era, God promised
a Savior. In the new era, the promise has been fulfilled. Jesus' perfect life and bloody death and
glorious resurrection fulfill everything necessary for salvation by faith. God "announced the
gospel in advance to Abraham" (Galatians 3:8), but now that Christ has come, the gospel is
clearer than it was in Abraham's day, and the blessings are poured out more abundantly.
In this new and better covenant era, God gives a new and better covenant sign. Now that
Jesus has suffered and poured out his blood, God no longer calls for the bloody, painful sign of
circumcision. Instead he gives the sign of baptism. This better sign of baptism is without blood
or pain. This better sign of baptism is not limited to males (as circumcision was) but is applied to
females as well.
The new covenant era and the new covenant sign are better than the old, so it would be a
shocking letdown if the God who included children of believers in the old era excluded them in
the new era. How could babies from covenant families, circumcised in the old era, not be
baptized in the new era?
The Bible links the meaning of circumcision with baptism in Colossians 2:11-12. There
Scripture speaks of "the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism
and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead."
Circumcision pictured "the putting off of the sinful nature" (Colossians 2:11); so does baptism.
Circumcision was the sign of becoming part of God's covenant community; so is baptism.
Circumcision called for a heart in tune with God (Deuteronomy 10:16; 30:6); so does baptism.
The spiritual meaning of circumcision is fulfilled in the new covenant sign of baptism.

Family Baptism
On Pentecost, the Lord poured out his Holy Spirit to launch the new covenant era. The
apostle Peter said, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the
forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you
and your children" (Acts 2:38-39). Peter's words echoed God's promise to Abraham, to be a
faithful God to him and his children. About 3,000 people were baptized that day.
After Pentecost, the Holy Spirit kept adding to the church, and not just one individual at a
time. The Spirit added whole families. Entire households were baptized. When the Lord opened
the heart of a woman named Lydia, the result was not just an individual baptism. "She and the
members of her household were baptized" (Acts 16:15). When a suicidal jailer asked the apostle
Paul, "What must I do to be saved?" he was told, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be
saved--you and your household." The man believed, his despair turned to joy, and "he and all his
family were baptized" (Acts 16:31,33). A synagogue ruler named Crispus "and his entire
household" came to Christ and were baptized (Acts 18:8). In one of Paul's letters, he wrote, "I
also baptized the household of Stephanas" (1 Corinthians 1:16).
Did any of these family baptisms include babies? Probably so, but there's no way to
prove it--and there's no need to prove it. Whether there were babies or not, the principle of
family solidarity is clear. When an adult was baptized, whether a father or mother, so were the
children in the household. When lost sheep went into God's fold, their lambs went with them.

4
 The gospel addresses households, and it's biblical to respond as households. Biblical faith
declares, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). In the Old
Testament, when the head of a household was circumcised, his boys were also circumcised. In
the New Testament, when the head of a household was baptized, the rest of the household was
also baptized. Today, too, churches should baptize individual converts and the children under
their care.

Marbles or Branches?
A gospel that speaks only of a personal relationship to God but not a family relationship
to God is missing something. The Bible teaches both family solidarity and personal
responsibility, not either/or. Our culture is extremely individualistic, and that makes it harder for
us to see how babies too young to think for themselves could be included in God's covenant. So
let's ask ourselves: are we marbles or branches?
The Bible speaks of Christ and his church as a grapevine. One way God's vine gets more
branches is to grow them. Another way is for branches to be grafted in from outside. Either way,
whether a branch grows from the vine or is grafted into it, any twigs on the branch are included
as well. When a child is born to someone who is already part of the church, the child is part of
the church. When parents from outside the church of Christ become part of it, their children
become part of it too. And baptism is the sign of belonging.
In our individualistic culture, says author Douglas Wilson, we'd rather be marbles than
branches. We picture Christ not as a vine but as a marble box where individual marbles are
placed one by one for safekeeping. No marble is connected to any other marble. Each is on its
own. But has Jesus ever said, "I am the box; you are the marbles"? No, Jesus says, "I am the
vine; you are the branches" (John 15:5). If a branch is connected to the vine, so are any twigs that
are connected to the branch.
This does not automatically mean that every branch or twig that's connected to the vine is
truly alive and bearing fruit. Some baptized persons are part of the church and attached to the
vine outwardly, but they turn out to be dead wood, without the life of Christ or the fruit of faith.
Jesus says, "My Father ... cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit" (John 15:1-2).
Some Christians oppose infant baptism largely because some people baptized as babies
turn out faithless and fruitless. That's an important concern. But there are also people baptized as
youth or adults who turn out faithless and fruitless. Lifeless, nominal Christianity is a serious
danger, but that doesn't mean that no babies should be baptized. It means churches must be sure
to baptize not just any child but only covenant children, children of active, professing believers.
It also means that church discipline must be applied when it becomes evident that a branch is
dead. If a baptized person rejects Christ and lives in sin, that person must be warned of God's
judgment and no longer be regarded as part of the church.
But let's not get stuck on what happens to dead branches. These are tragic exceptions, not
the rule. The joyful expectation of baptism is that branches joined to the vine will flourish and
bear fruit.
When a new baby is born, do parents wait for years to see whether the baby chooses to be
part of the family before they treat him as part of the family? No, they treat the little one as part
of the family right away. Do they wait for years to give the child a name and just say "Hey, you!"
until he can choose a name for himself? No, they give the baby a name as soon as he's born.
Now, it's conceivable that when a child grows up, he could disown his family and change his

5
name, but that's not the expectation. The expectation is that the child will always be in the
family.
In God's family, the church, should we wait for a baby to grow up before treating him as
a member of God's family? Should we wait to see how he turns out before we give him a name
and an identity? No, a baby of Christian parents should be treated from the start as part of God's
family. He should have the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit placed on him in
baptism.
To be born into a Christian family and be baptized as a baby is no substitute for personal
faith; it makes the call for personal faith all the more powerful and urgent. That's why churches
that baptize babies of believers also insist that when those children reach a point where they're
able to make up their own minds, they must make a personal, public profession of faith in Christ.
God's covenant involves family solidarity and personal responsibility, not either/or.
God uses baptism to strengthen faith and increase joy. If you trust in Jesus and see your
baptism as the sign of sins forgiven and union with Christ, your baptism is a personal comfort. If
you bring babies to Christ for his blessing and baptism, if you do all in your power to instruct
them in the Christian faith and to lead them by your example to be Christ's disciples, if you make
your home a place where Christ is loved and obeyed, then baptism is a seal of joy and confidence
for your family's future.
A relationship with God is always deeply personal but never merely private. God does
not just deal with individuals one at a time. God's covenant embraces believers, their families,
and future generations. "He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand
generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deuteronomy 7:9). What glorious
good news!

6
Chapter XXVI: Christian Baptism
Christ instituted baptism after the resurrection, Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:16. He charged His
disciples to baptize those who were made disciples “into the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” that is, into special relationship with the triune God.
While He did not intend to prescribe a formula, the Church chose the words of the
institution, when it felt the need of one. The present formula was in use before the
beginning of the second century. Protestants regard a baptism legitimate, which is
administered by a duly accredited minister and in the name of the triune God, while
Roman Catholics, who regard baptism as absolutely necessary unto salvation, permit its
administration, in case the life of a child is in danger, also to others than priests,
particularly to midwives.

1. The Proper Mode of Baptism

Baptists not only maintain that the proper mode of baptism is by immersion, but even
assert that immersion belongs to the very essence of baptism. Baptism applied in any
other way is not baptism at all. They hold that the fundamental idea of baptism is that
of being buried and rising again with Christ, Rom. 6:3-6; Col. 2:12, and that this is
symbolically indicated only by immersion. But Scripture clearly represents purification
as the essential thing in the symbolism of baptism, Ezek. 36:25; John 3:25-26; Acts 22:16;
Titus 3:5; Heb. 10:22; 1 Pet. 3:21. And this can be symbolized by sprinkling or pouring as
well as by immersion,

Lev. 14:7; “And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven
times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let go the living bird into the open
field.”

Num. 8:7; “And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of
expiation upon them, and let them cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and let them
wash their clothes, and cleanse themselves.”

Ezek. 36:25; “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all
your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”

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Heb. 9:19-22; “19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses unto all the
people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water
and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,
20 saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded to you-ward.
21 Moreover the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled in like
manner with the blood. 22 And according to the law, I may almost say, all things are
cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.”

Heb. 10:22. “let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith, having our hearts
sprinkled from an evil conscience: and having our body washed with pure water,”

Consequently the mode of baptism is quite immaterial: it may be administered by

immersion, but also by pouring or sprinkling. But the Baptists have another argument,
namely, that the New Testament warrants only baptism by immersion. However, they
fail to prove their point. Jesus did not prescribe a certain mode of baptism, and the Bible
never stresses any particular mode. The word (baptizo) employed by Jesus does not
necessarily mean ‘to immerse,’ but may also mean ‘to purify by washing.’ There is not a
single case of baptism mentioned in the New Testament of which we are sure that it was
baptism by immersion. It is very unlikely that the multitudes who flocked to John the
Baptist and the three thousand who believed on the day of Pentecost were baptized in
that way. Neither is it likely that this mode was applied in the cases mentioned in

Acts 9:18; “And straightway there fell from his eyes as it were scales, and he received
his sight; and he arose and was baptized;”

Acts 10:47; “Can any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who have
received the Holy Spirit as well as we?”

Acts 16:33-34. “33 And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their
stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately. 34 And he brought them up into
his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having
believed in God.”

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2. The Proper Subjects of Baptism

There are two classes to whom baptism is applied, namely, adults and infants.

a. Adult baptism. Baptism is intended for believers and their seed. In the words of the
institution Jesus undoubtedly had in mind primarily the baptism of adults, for it was
only with these that the disciples could begin in their missionary labors. His instruction
implies that baptism had to be preceded by a profession of faith, Mark 16:16. On the day
of Pentecost those that received the word of Peter were baptized, Acts 2:41; cf. also Acts
8:37 (Auth.Ver.); 16:31-34. The Church should require a profession of faith of all adults
seeking baptism. When such a profession is made, this is accepted by the Church at its
face value, unless there are good reasons to doubt its sincerity.

b. Infant baptism. Baptists deny the right of infant baptism, since children cannot
exercise faith, and since the New Testament contains no command to baptize children
and does not record a single instance of such baptism. Yet this does not prove it
unbiblical.

(1) The scriptural basis for infant baptism. Infant baptism is not based on a single
passage of Scripture, but on a series of considerations. The covenant made with
Abraham was primarily a spiritual covenant, though it also had a national aspect, Rom.
4:16-18; Gal. 3:8-9, 14. This covenant is still in force and is essentially the same as the
“new covenant” of the present dispensation, Rom. 4:13-18; Gal. 3:15-18; Heb. 6:13-18.
Children shared in the blessings of the covenant, received the sign of circumcision, and
were reckoned as part of the congregation if Israel, 2 Chron. 20:13; Joel 2:16. In the New
Testament baptism is substituted for circumcision as the sign and seal of entrance into
the covenant, Acts 2:39; Col. 2:11-12. The “new covenant” is represented in Scripture as
more gracious than the old, Isa. 54:13; Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:11, and therefore could hardly
exclude children. This is also unlikely in view of such passages as Matt. 19:14; Acts 2:39;
1 Cor. 7:14. Moreover, whole households were baptized and it is unlikely that these
contained no children, Acts 16:15; 16:33; 1 Cor. 1:16.

(2) The ground and operation of infant baptism. In Reformed circles some hold that
children are baptized on the ground of a presumptive regeneration, that is, on the

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assumption (not the assurance), that they are regenerated. Others take the position that
they are baptized on the ground of the all-comprehensive covenant promise of God,
which also includes the promise of regeneration. This view deserves preference. The
covenant promise affords the only certain and objective ground for the baptism of
infants. But if the question is raised, how infant baptism can function as a means of
grace to strengthen spiritual life, the answer is that it can at the very moment of its
administration strengthen the regenerate life, if already present in the child, and can
strengthen faith later on when the significance of baptism is more clearly understood.
Its operation is not necessarily limited to the very moment of its administration.

To Memorize. Passages bearing on:

a. The institution of baptism:

Matt. 28;19. “Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 16:15-16. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole creation.
He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that does not believe shall be
condemned.”

b. Baptism as a symbol of purification:

Acts 22:16. “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy
sins, calling on his name.”

1 Pet. 3:21. “Which also after a true likeness doth now save you, even baptism, not the
putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward
God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

c. The substitution of baptism for circumcision:

Col. 2:11-12. “In whom ye were also circumcised with a circumcision not made with
hands, in the putting off of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of Christ; having

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been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in
the working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

d. The permanent application of the covenant of Abraham:

Rom. 4:16. “For this cause [it is] of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end
that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to
that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”

Gal. 3:29. “And if ye are Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, heirs according to
promise.”

e. The inclusion of children in the New Testament church:

Matt. 19:14. “But Jesus said, Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto
me: for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Acts 2:39. “For to you is the promise, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call unto him.”

1 Cor. 7:14. “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving
wife is sanctified in the brother: else were your children unclean; but now are they
holy.”

For Further Study:

a. Do the following passages prove that the disciples did not use the trinitarian formula
in baptism? Acts 2:38; 8:16; 10:48; 19:5.

b. How does the spiritual meaning of baptism compare with that of circumcision?
Compare Deut. 30:6; Jer. 4:4 with Acts 2:38; 22:16.

c. Can you prove that circumcision was abolished in the New Testament? Acts 15; Gal.
2:3; 5:2-3; 6:12-13.

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Questions for Review:

1. When did Christ institute baptism?

2. What is the meaning of baptism into the name of someone?

3. Were the words of Christ intended as a formula?

4. What do Baptists regard as the essential thing in the symbolism of baptism?

5. What is the essential thing in it?

6. Did Christ prescribe a certain mode of baptism?

7. Can the necessity of immersion be proved from Scripture?

8. Who are the proper administrators of baptism? What is Rome’s view?

9. What is the condition of adult baptism?

10. How can infant baptism be proved from Scripture?

11. What views are there as to the ground of infant baptism?

12. Which should be preferred, and why?

13. How can infant baptism be a means of grace?

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Chapter XXVII: The Lord’s Supper
The Lord’s Supper was instituted at the time of the passover shortly before the death of
Jesus, Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25. The new sacrament
was linked up with the central element in the paschal meal. The bread that was eaten
with the lamb was consecrated to a new use, and so was the wine of the third cup, “the
cup of blessing.” The broken bread and the wine symbolize the Lord’s broken body and
shed blood; the physical eating and drinking of these point to a spiritual appropriation
of the fruits of the sacrifice of Christ; and the whole sacrament is a constant reminder of
His redemptive death.

1. The Lord’s Supper as a Sign and Seal

Like every other sacrament, the Lord’s Supper is first of all a sign. The sign includes not
only the visible elements of bread and wine, but also their eating and drinking. It is a
symbolical representation of the Lord’s death, 1 Cor. 11:26, and symbolizes the
believer’s participation in the crucified Christ and in the life and strength of the risen
Lord. In addition to this it is also an act of profession on the part of those who partake
of it. They profess faith in Christ as their Savior, and allegiance to Him as their King. But
the Lord’s Supper is more than a sign; it is also a seal, which is attached to the thing
signified and is a pledge of its realization. It gives believing partakers the assurance that
they are the objects of the great love of Christ revealed in His self-surrender to a bitter
and shameful death; that all the promises of the covenant and all the riches of the gospel
are theirs; and even that the blessings of salvation are theirs in actual possession.

2. The Presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper

The question as to the nature of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper is one that
has long been debated, and one on which there is still considerable difference of
opinion. Four views come into consideration here.

a. The view of Rome. The Church of Rome conceives of the presence of Christ in the
Lord’s Supper in a physical sense. On the ground of Jesus’ statement, “this is my body,” it
holds that bread and wine change into the body and blood of Christ, though they

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continue to look and taste like bread and wine. This view is open to several objections:
(1) Jesus, standing before the disciples in the flesh, could not very well say that He had
His body in His hand; (2) Scripture speaks of the bread as bread even after the supposed
change has taken place, 1 Cor. 10;17; 11:26-28; and (3) It is contrary to common sense to
believe that what looks and smells and tastes like bread and wine is indeed flesh and
blood.

b. The Lutheran view. Lutherans maintain that, while bread and wine remain what they
are, the whole person of Christ, body and blood, is present in, under, and along with, the
elements. When Christ had the bread in His hand, He held His body along with it, and
therefore could say, “this is my body.” Every one who receives the bread also receives
the body, whether he be a believer or not. This is no great improvement on the Roman
Catholic doctrine. It ascribes to Jesus’ words the unnatural meaning “this accompanies
my body.” Moreover, it is burdened with the impossible notion that the body of Christ
is omnipresent.

c. The Zwinglian view. Zwingli denied the bodily presence of Christ in the Lord’s
Supper, while admitting that He is spiritually present in the faith of believers. For him
the Lord’s Supper was mainly a mere sign or symbol, a memorial of the death of Christ,
and an act of profession on the part of believers. Some of his statements, however, seem
to indicate that he also regarded it as a seal or pledge of what God does for the believer
in Christ.

d. Calvin’s view. Calvin took an intermediate position. Instead of the physical and local,
he taught the spiritual presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. In distinction from
Zwingli he stressed the deeper significance of the sacrament. He saw in it a seal and
pledge of what God does for believers rather than a pledge of their consecration to God.
The virtues and effects of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross are present and actually
conveyed to believers by the power of the Holy Spirit.

3. The Persons for Whom the Lord’s Supper is Instituted

The Lord’s Supper was not instituted for all indiscriminately, but only for believers,
who understand its spiritual significance. Children, who have not yet come to years of

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discretion, are not fit to partake of it. Even true believers may be in such a spiritual
condition that they cannot worthily take their place at the table of the Lord, and should
therefore examine themselves carefully, 1 Cor. 11:28-32. Unbelievers are naturally
excluded from the Lord’s Supper. The grace that is received in the sacrament does not
differ in kind from that which is received through the instrumentality of the Word. The
sacrament merely adds to the effectiveness of the Word and to the measure of the grace
received. The enjoyment of its spiritual benefits depends on the faith of the participant.

To Memorize. Passages bearing on:

a. The institution of the Lord’s Supper:

1 Cor. 11:23-27. “For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the
Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given
thanks, He brake it, and said, This is my body, which is for you: this do in remembrance
of me. In like manner also the cup, after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant in
my blood: this do, as often as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat
this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he come. Wherefore
whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.”

b. The Lord’s Supper as a sign and seal:

Matt. 26:26-27. “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it;
and He gave to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And He took a cup,
and gave thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many unto remission of sins.”

1 Cor. 10:16. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of
Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?”

c. The Lord’s Supper as an act of profession:

1 Cor. 11:26. “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s
death till he come.”

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d. Worthy participation and self-examination:

1 Cor. 11:27-29. “Wherefore whosoever shall eat the bread or drink the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But let a
man prove himself, and so let him eat of the bread, and drink of the cup. For he that eats
and drinks, eats and drinks judgment unto himself, if he discern not the body.”

For Further Study:

a. Do the words of Jesus in John 6:48-58 have reference to the Lord’s Supper?

b. Does the expression ‘breaking bread’ necessarily refer to the Lord’s Supper? Cf. Acts
2:42; 20;7, 11; 27:35; 1 Cor. 10:16.

c. Can you mention other cases in which the verb ‘to be’ cannot be taken literally? John
10:7; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1.

Questions for Review:

1. What belongs to the sign in the Lord’s Supper?

2. What does the sacrament signify and what does it seal?

3. What is the Roman Catholic view of the presence of Christ in the Lord’s Supper?

4. How do the Lutherans conceive of it?

5. What objections are there to these views?

6. What is the Zwinglian conception of the Lord’s Supper?

7. How does Calvin’s conception differ from it?

8. How does Calvin conceive of the Lord’s presence in it?

9. How does the grace received in the sacrament differ from that received through the
Word?

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10. For whom was the Lord’s Supper instituted?

11. Who should be excluded from the table of the Lord?

162
The  Lord’s  Supper  

David Feddes
 The  Lord’s  Supper  
A.  What happens in the Supper?

B.  What must not happen?

C.  Who should eat and drink?

Participating  in  body  &  blood  
1 Cor 10:16 The cup of blessing that we
bless, is it not a participation in the blood
of Christ? The bread that we break, is it
not a participation in the body of Christ?
17 Because there is one bread, we who
are many are one body, for we all partake
of the one bread. 18 Consider the people
of Israel: are not those who eat the
sacrifices participants in the altar?
 Table  of  the  Lord,    
not  demons  
1 Cor 10:19 What do I imply then? That
food offered to idols is anything, or that an
idol is anything? 20 No, I imply that what
pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and
not to God. I do not want you to be
participants with demons. 21 You cannot
drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of
demons. You cannot partake of the table of
the Lord and the table of demons.
 Selfish  divisions  
1 Cor 11:20 When you come together, it is
not the Lord's supper that you eat. 21 For
in eating, each one goes ahead with his
own meal. One goes hungry, another gets
drunk. 22 What! Do you not have houses
to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the
church of God and humiliate those who
have nothing? What shall I say to you?
Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
 In  remembrance  of  me  
1 Cor 11:23 For I received from the Lord
what I also delivered to you, that the Lord
Jesus on the night when he was betrayed
took bread, 24 and when he had given
thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my
body which is for you. Do this in
remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way
also he took the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me.”
 Exalt  Christ,  examine  self  
1 Cor 11:26 For as often as you eat this
bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death until he comes.
27 Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or
drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty concerning the body
and blood of the Lord. 28 Let a person
examine himself, then, and so eat of the
bread and drink of the cup.
 Eating  and  drinking  
judgment  
1 Cor 11:29 For anyone who eats and
drinks without discerning the body eats
and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That
is why many of you are weak and ill, and
some have died. 31 But if we judged
ourselves truly, we would not be judged.
32 But when we are judged by the Lord,
we are disciplined so that we may not be
condemned along with the world.
 The  Lord’s  Supper  
A.  What happens in the Supper?

B.  What must not happen?

C.  Who should eat and drink?

  What  happens  in  the  Supper?      
  sharing,
Communion (koinonia:
participation, fellowship, togetherness)
•  Communion with the crucified body and
shed blood of Jesus Christ.
•  Communion with the living Christ.
•  Communion with fellow members in
Christ’s earthly body, the church.
 Different  views  of  Christ’s  presence
1.  Transubstantiation: The priest re-presents
Christ’s sacrifice. Bread and wine become
actual body and blood of Jesus. (Thomas
Aquinas, Roman Catholics)
2.  Consubstantiation: Jesus is physically present
in, with, and under the bread and wine.
(Martin Luther; Lutherans)
3.  Symbolic presence: The Supper pictures Christ
give for us. (Ulrich Zwingli; some Baptists)
4.  Spiritual presence: Christ is present spiritually,
not just symbolically. (John Calvin, Reformed)
To support the physical and earthly life,
God has prescribed for us an appropriate
earthly and material bread, which is as
common to all as life itself also is. But to
maintain the spiritual and heavenly life
that belongs to believers, he has sent a
living bread that came down from heaven:
namely Jesus Christ, who nourishes and
maintains the spiritual life of believers
when eaten—that is, when appropriated
and received spiritually by faith.
(Belgic Confession Article 35)
To represent to us this spiritual and
heavenly bread Christ has instituted an
earthly and visible bread as the sacrament
of his body and wine as the sacrament of
his blood. He did this to testify to us that
just as truly as we take and hold the
sacraments in our hands and eat and drink
it in our mouths, by which our life is then
sustained, so truly we receive into our souls,
for our spiritual life, the true body and true
blood of Christ, our only Savior. We receive
these by faith, which is the hand and mouth
of our souls. (Belgic Confession Article 35)
 Now it is certain that Jesus Christ did not
prescribe his sacraments for us in vain,
since he works in us all he represents by
these holy signs, although the manner in
which he does it goes beyond our
understanding and is incomprehensible to
us, just as the operation of God's Spirit is
hidden and incomprehensible.
Yet we do not go wrong when we say that
what is eaten is Christ's own natural body
and what is drunk is his own blood—but the
manner in which we eat it is not by the
mouth but by the Spirit, through faith.
(Belgic Confession Article 35)
Are the bread and wine changed into the
real body and blood of Christ?
No. Just as the water of baptism is not
changed into Christ's blood and does not
itself wash away sin but is simply God's sign
and assurance, so too the bread of the
Lord's Supper is not changed into the actual
body of Christ even though it is called the
body of Christ in keeping with the nature
and language of sacraments.
(Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 78)
Why then does Christ call the bread his body and
the cup his blood?
A. Christ has good reason for these words. He
wants to teach us that as bread and wine nourish
our temporal life, so too his crucified body and
poured-out blood truly nourish our souls for
eternal life. But more important, he wants to
assure us, by this visible sign and pledge, that we,
through the Holy Spirit's work, share in his true
body and blood as surely as our mouths receive
these holy signs in his remembrance, and that all
of his suffering and obedience are as definitely
ours as if we personally had suffered and paid for
our sins. (Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 79)
B.  What  must  not  happen?  
1.  Superstition: acting like the Supper
is magic medicine that protects from
sin and judgment
2.  Syncretism: eating in idol temples
and communing at demons’ table
3.  Swinishness: Factions, favoritism,
and piggish violation of communion
with fellow Christians
The Lord’s Supper is participation in real
grace, not cheap grace.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote of cheap grace

as “the preaching of forgiveness without
repentance … communion without
confession, grace without discipleship …
Christianity without Christ.
C.  Who  should  eat  and  drink?    
All those—and only those—who:
1.  Are baptized as the mark of union with
Christ and His church
2.  Trust Christ and publicly profess faith
3.  Know what bread and cup represent
4.  Seek separation from evil and pursue
unity among believers
We believe and confess that our Savior Jesus
Christ has ordained and instituted the
sacrament of the Holy Supper to nourish and
sustain those who are already born again
and ingrafted into his family: his church…
Although the sacraments and thing signified
are joined together, not all receive both of
them. The wicked person certainly takes the
sacrament, to his condemnation, but does
not receive the truth of the sacrament
[namely] Christ... He is communicated only to
believers. (Belgic Confession Article 35)
Who are to come to the Lord's table?
Those who are displeased with themselves
because of their sins, but who nevertheless
trust that their sins are pardoned and that
their continuing weakness is covered by the
suffering and death of Christ, and who also
desire more and more to strengthen their
faith and to lead a better life. Hypocrites and
those who are unrepentant, however, eat and
drink judgment on themselves.
(Heidelberg Catechism Q & A 81)
A.   What  happens  in  the  Supper?      
Communion (koinonia: sharing,
participation, fellowship, togetherness)
1.  Communion with the crucified body
and shed blood of Jesus Christ.
2.  Communion with the living Christ.
3.  Communion with fellow members in
Christ’s earthly body, the church.
B.  What  must  not  happen?  
1.  Superstition: acting like Supper is
magic medicine that protects from
sin and judgment
2.  Syncretism: eating in idol temples
and communing at demons’ table
3.  Swinishness: Factions, favoritism,
and piggish violation of communion
with fellow Christians
C.  Who  should  eat  and  drink?    
All those—and only those—who:
1.  Are baptized as the mark of union with
Christ and His church
2.  Trust Christ and publicly profess faith
3.  Know what bread and cup represent
4.  Seek separation from evil and pursue
unity among believers
Blood of the Covenant
By David Feddes

Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn are two boys trying to keep a secret. How can they
make sure neither one will break the secret? Tom wants to hold hands and swear to it. But Huck
says, “Oh no, that wouldn’t do for this. That’s good enough for little rubbishy common things…
but there orter be writing ‘bout a big thing like this. And blood.” Tom agrees with Huck: this
requires writing and blood. So Tom writes the promises on a clean pine shingle. Then each boy
pricks his thumb with a needle, squeezes out a little blood, and signs his initials.
Tom and Huck are fictional, but it’s no fiction that the most solemn agreement is not just
a matter of holding hands and talking. It involves writing and blood. When God made his
covenant with his chosen people, he didn’t just speak words that would make a brief impression
and then fade from memory. He wrote things down. He recorded the covenant history of his
creative and saving acts, and he recorded covenant commands, promises, and curses as a
testimony for all generations. God wrote his covenant in the Bible. (The word testament—as in
Old Testament and New Testament—means covenant.) And he sealed this written covenant with
blood. This didn’t just involve a pinprick in the thumb and a drop of blood. It involved piercing
by nails, thorns, and spear. It involved the complete outpouring of Jesus’ blood. The Lord’s
covenant, written in Scripture and sealed with his blood, is unchangeable and eternal.
I don’t know what you think of this covenant, but it is my life. I won’t settle for a religion
based on feelings, holding hands, talking, and singing choruses. That might be “good enough for
little rubbishy common things,” as Huck Finn put it, but when my life and whole world are at
stake, I need something sturdier. I need the covenant, written down and sealed in blood.
Let me tell you what it’s like to be in this covenant with Christ. In this covenant, I don’t
have to wonder whether I count for anything. I don’t have to wonder where I stand or whether I
belong. Thanks to the blood of the covenant, God accepts me. God loves me. God enjoys me.
God delights in me. God sings over me. God doesn’t hold my sins against me but helps me
overcome them. God likes having me around. God likes hearing from me. God expects great
things from me. God is making the world better through me. God is blessing future generations
through me. God calls me a very special person among a very special people. God claims my
children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren for a thousand generations, if this world lasts
that long.
When I say this, it’s not an ego trip. It’s reality. It’s what God guarantees in the Bible for
those who hold fast to his covenant in Christ. I don’t need to be stuck in guilt. I don’t need to
fear punishment. I don’t need to feel ashamed or worthless. I don’t need to feel frustrated or take
my frustration out on others. I don’t need to feel confused about who God is or what he requires
of me. I can be clear, confident, purposeful, knowing God welcomes me, treasures me, equips
me, directs me, corrects me, disciplines me, and has great things in store for me. All this is God’s
gift, not my achievement.
God’s gift is not for me alone. It’s for all who trust his Son and are faithful to his
covenant. God doesn’t just choose me as an individual. He chooses me in Christ together with a
whole body of people and makes his covenant with them, and it’s only within this covenant body
of people that I can flourish. I have a personal relationship with God, but not as an individual on
my own. I relate to God in communion with his covenant people, the church. I know I’m special
and I teach my children they’re special because Jesus claims us as part of “the church of God,
which he bought with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).

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 There’s a lot of talk about the need for self-esteem, and it is terrible for children to grow
up feeling unloved, alone, worthless, aimless. But will it work to build self-esteem on frequent
flattery by parents and teachers? That’s building a castle on clouds. My sense of self depends on
what God thinks of me, on being part of a larger body of people, and on having a high and noble
purpose. I ground this in God’s covenant, written in his Word and sealed in Jesus’ blood.

Jesus and Moses

The night before Jesus died, he gave the Lord’s Supper as a covenant celebration for his
disciples and all future followers.
Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and
eat; this is my body.”
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it,
all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28)
This was not the first time someone used the phrase “blood of the covenant.” Moses had used it
centuries earlier. After God rescued the people of Israel from slavery, the Lord gave a covenant
through Moses at Mount Sinai that included writing, blood, and a special meal. He wrote the Ten
Commandments and related laws, he required blood from animal sacrifices as a sign of
atonement for sin, and he established the Passover as a meal of liberation and covenant
fellowship. According to Exodus 24, an altar was built, and some young bulls were sacrificed.
“Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls, and the other half he sprinkled on the
altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded,
‘We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” Moses then took the blood,
sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord made
with you in accordance with all these words’” (Exodus 24:6-8).
Then Moses, some priests, and the seventy elders of Israel went up to Mount Sinai and saw God.
Somehow God made visible something of his invisible being. Such a close encounter with God
could have been devastating and deadly. “But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of
the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (Exodus 24:11).
The covenant confirmed that day with Moses was a marvelous gift from God. Each
element was precious. The Lord promised to be the God of his chosen people, and they agreed to
be his. God wrote down his commands to let them know what he required from them, and they
declared their commitment. God knew they couldn’t obey perfectly, so he accepted sacrificial
blood on the altar as a way to cover the sins of his people, and he put blood on the people as a
claim on them that wouldn’t wash away. He allowed their leaders into his presence to have a
meal of fellowship with him and with each other, and he did not strike them dead.
This amazing covenant got even better centuries later. When Jesus gave his disciples a
cup of wine and said, “This is my blood of the covenant,” he declared himself to be fulfilling the
older covenant with Moses and establishing a new and even better covenant. “The covenant of
which [Jesus] is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises”
(Hebrews 8:5). The once-for-all outpouring of Jesus’ blood replaced the oft-repeated animal
sacrifices. The coming of God in human flesh replaced the mysterious vision of God in the old
covenant.
When Jesus gave the Lord’s Supper and spoke of the blood of the covenant, his disciples
probably recalled the time when Moses spoke of the blood of the covenant and the meal where
people saw God and lived. One of those in the room with Jesus, Philip, spoke up and asked to see

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God. He said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the
Father” (John 14:8-9). As Israel’s leaders long ago had been sprinkled with blood and ate with
God and saw him, so Jesus’ disciples ate and drank and enjoyed the Lord’s company without
being destroyed, thanks to his blood of the covenant.
The new covenant replaced the older covenant, not by contradicting or violating it but by
fulfilling and surpassing it. The ceremonies and symbols of the old covenant were fulfilled by
Jesus in the new covenant, but the basic covenant structure remained: God graciously chooses a
people for himself, commands their obedience to his laws of love, provides a way to pardon
those who sin but still want a relationship with him, reveals himself to them, and establishes
fellowship that links them to him and each other. He puts this in writing, seals the relationship
with blood, and confirms it in the experience of eating and drinking around a table. Every time I
eat the bread and drink the wine of communion, I take part in the body of Christ and benefit from
his blood of the covenant.
The beauty of Christ and his church make it a beautiful thing to be in his covenant. If
you’ve been baptized into Christ, you have a special identity and tremendous privileges, with
awesome opportunities and responsibilities. But what if you’re outside the church? What if
you’re not baptized and don’t have a covenant relationship with God? Don’t think this message
is just for somebody else. Just because you’re outside God’s covenant people doesn’t mean you
have to stay that way. God calls you to put your faith in him and enter into his covenant. You can
be baptized into his church, live by faith, and embrace covenant blessings and responsibilities.

Holy and Dearly Loved

When Jesus says, “This cup is my blood of the covenant,” do you realize what the Lord is
saying to you and other members of his covenant? Listen to what God has written in his
covenant book, the Bible. God told the people under Moses, “I carried you on eagles’ wings and
brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations
you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:4-6). In the newer version of the covenant,
God says all that and more: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into
his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). You are “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved”
(Colossians 3:12)
Is that how you see yourself? When you wake up in the morning, do you say, “I am holy
and dearly loved”? Do you say, “Thank you, Lord, that I am your treasured possession”? Or do
you go through each day wondering whether anyone really loves you, doubting whether you
really amount to anything? If you ignore the covenant, live in sin without turning from it, and
avoid church, you place yourself outside those whom God treasures. But if you count on Jesus’
blood of the covenant to cleanse you, if you count on God’s promises and submit to his
commands, and if you stay connected to his church, then you are among “God’s chosen people,
holy and dearly loved.” Don’t let Satan poison your joy. Don’t let him drag you into doubt and
guilt and fear. Let your heart and life glow with gladness!
And don’t limit the joy to yourself. Let your family ring with joy! If you belong to Jesus
and you have children, don’t leave your children wondering who they are or where they belong.
Children born into believing homes should be baptized and taught from their earliest days that
they are among God’s covenant people, “holy and dearly loved.” They should be invited to the
Lord’s table at an early age. If children are told not to think of themselves as Christians till walk

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an aisle or have some sort of special experience or reach adulthood, we are failing them. Jesus
says, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven
belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14). If you as a parent are in God’s covenant, your
children are in his covenant too. Teach them that! Treat them that way! Don’t teach them to
doubt. Teach them to believe!
Part of teaching the covenant is to warn of covenant curses, so warn them of the hellfire
that awaits any covenant-breaker “who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated
as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit
of grace” (Hebrews 10:26-29). But don’t use such warnings to hammer children with doubt and
terror. Treasure your covenant children and keep encouraging them that they are God’s treasured
possession in union with Christ and his church.
In the covenant, God frees us from family curses and sins passed from generation to
generation, and he make faith flourish from generation to generation. Scripture says, “You were
redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers [by] the
precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18). Apart from Christ, we “were foreigners to the covenants
of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who
were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:12-13).
Covenant families and children should shine with joyful confidence, and so should
covenant congregations. If you are a pastor, do you keep preaching to the members of your
congregation that they are “holy and dearly loved”? If you are a church member, do you see
other baptized, believing people as God’s treasured possession? At times God’s people need to
correct and warn each other, but above all we need to encourage and remind each other that we
are God’s people, holy and dearly loved. Pastors, proclaim it! Congregations, celebrate it!
We don’t have to be perfect to be pleasing to God. We are covered by Jesus’ “blood of
the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The blood covers all our
faults and makes it possible for God to really enjoy having us around. God just plain likes us. He
enjoys us. “The Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the
saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds” (Psalm 149:4).

Blameless
When we live in covenant with Christ, striving to please him, we can be free of blame
and shame. The Bible often speaks of being blameless. This doesn’t mean any of us can be
perfect in this life. Being blameless means we love God’s Word, we strive to obey it, and Jesus’
blood covers all our failings.
Without this freedom, we may be busy blaming and shaming others, or drowning in the
blame and shame that others pour on us. Many of the self-destructive things we do spring from a
deep drive to suffer for our sins, and many of the cruel things we do to others are driven by
making them scapegoats, projecting our guilt onto them and hurting them in order to provide a
sense of relief through suffering. But with Jesus’ blood of the covenant, atonement is complete.
We don’t need self-inflicted suffering or the suffering of others to relieve our desperate need for
atonement. When you are blameless in the blood, you gain freedom from addictions and various
destructive behaviors.
Within the covenant, you also gain a healthy sense of right and wrong. You grieve over
genuine sin but not over phony guilt. God’s law shows the way. If you stray from it, you repent
and return to the right path. If you do something that’s not against God’s law, you don’t let false
standards of morality make you feel guilty. Without the covenant standard of God’s law in the

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Bible, our whole idea of what deserves blame and shame can be turned upside down. You might
say, “I feel so guilty eating that chocolate” when it’s no sin at all to eat chocolate. You may feel
ashamed of gaining weight when weight gain is not condemned in the Bible. God’s doesn’t
command, “Be skinny.” He commands, “Be holy.” God’s law frees us from false law and false
guilt.
God’s covenant commands are “the perfect law that gives freedom” (James 1:25).
Without the law of liberty, we will still have laws, but those laws will stifle freedom, not enhance
it. Instead of upholding the Ten Commandments, governments pass laws against smoking in
public places. Instead of outlawing live-in lovers, adultery, and divorce, some governments
outlaw all forms of spanking, even though the Bible approves loving discipline. What hurts a
child more, a sound spanking from a loving parent, or a broken home where a father or mother is
missing from the family? Nations that outlaw spanking but approve sexual revolution and no-
fault divorce have turned morality upside down. The covenant laws of God free us from such
phony nonsense. In the Bible God tells those who teach upside down morality, “Because you
disheartened the righteous with your lies, when I had brought them no grief, and because you
encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives… I will save my
people from your hands” (Ezekiel 13:22-23).
When you live in the covenant, you can be clear about what God expects, and you can
serve him with confidence. You know your sins are forgiven, you know his Word directs you
life, and you know that you have access to the throne of God himself. “In [Christ] and through
faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence” (Ephesians 3:12). As we
approach God with confidence, we can also be confident in dealing with other people. We don’t
have to feel intimidated or inferior. “Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God.
Not that we are competent to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant… Therefore, since we have such a
hope, we are very bold… And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being
transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the
spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:4-18).

We Know
Nowadays it’s trendy to have false humility about religious and moral matters. This false
humility says religion is a matter of personal opinion. I have my opinions, you have yours, but
nobody can know anything for sure about salvation or moral absolutes. But is that really
humility? No, it’s just confusion. Is it arrogant to say that we know God, that we know what it
means to have a relationship with him, and that we know his standard for right and wrong? No,
it’s just healthy confidence in Christ and his covenant.
Hearty, covenant Christians don’t just offer vague opinions. We know! We don’t just feel
or think or hope or guess. We know! In the book of 1 John, the Bible says, “We know that we
have come to know him if we obey his commands” (1 John 2:3). “We know that we have passed
from death to life” (1 John 3:14). “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has
given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). “We know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John
4:16). “We know that everyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of
God [Jesus] keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. We know that we are children of
God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. We know also that the Son of
God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we

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are in him who is true—even in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life” (1 John
5:18-20).
We know all this because we have it in the Lord’s own writing and sealed with his own
blood. Nothing is more certain. The Bible says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills
be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be
removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you… All your sons will be taught by the
Lord, and great will be your children’s peace… No weapon forged against you will prevail, and
you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord. (Isaiah 54:10-17). Remember and
believe this whenever you come to the Lord’s table and hear Jesus’ words: “This is my blood of
the covenant.”